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Forest of Feelings
Note: This scene is also known as: "BUKKET ATTAKKS!" Synopsis: A repair job goes awry when the Decepticons accidentally unleash a horrible foe! Petrified Forest As far as the optic can see are rows and rows of spindly metal structures, each consisting of a set of four masts in a wedge-shaped pattern that protrudes from deep beneath Cybertron's surface. The upper half of each mast has a thick, tightly-rolled wrapping of thin, fragile metal of varying sizes and colors from tiny delicate blue ones to gigantic red ones that tower overhead, like skeletal robots the size of Guardians. While most remain rolled shut, there are several that had frozen in the open position, their colorful "petals" fully unfurled though in many places ripped. What purpose these structures had has been long since forgotten, but from the careful positioning and spacing, they *did* have some purpose. Cyclonus says, "Americon, you are ordered to take a team to repair the solar collectors in the Petrified Forest in order to reap the whirlwind. The SOLAR whirlwind of energy that is currently raging! Failure equals death. Hail Galvatron!" Before you is... something that looks like a mass of black. Cloak-like, shimmering, almost unreal. No part of it touches the ground, and it has an almost transposed quality. Darker than dark, it is clothed in a black substance, indefinable to the perception. Its head is encased in a solid black featurless mask, though it moves with the grace of something that is certainly not blind Galvatron says, "I am currently, hh, scouting locations that the technology may be implemented on Earth." Galvatron says, "Do not /fail me/, Decepticons." Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot and it's fellow EDC Exo-Suit are lurking around between a few rows of the metal structures. How long have they been here and what have they been up to? Hmm... Americon says, "I am not a fan of death, so I shall obey, mighty Cyclonus... IN AMERICA!" Fleet has arrived. Robotic Bald Eagle whistles as he strolls into the Petrified Forest, wearing a hard hat and toting a mechanic's tool box in his right arm. "Whistle while we work! Lalalala!" He glares over his shoulder at the Decepticons following him. "Whistle, dammit! Whistle!" Ventress Exo-Suit Robot turns towards the singing bird (and the bird is the word) and sighs. <> F-16 Falcon flies along behind the annoying casseticon, somehow Dreadwind manages to move slow enough to actually stay behind him. Just why he's been sent out here is anyone's guess but most likely to give aerospace some quiet time. This may well be one of the most poorly chosen maintenance teams ever, all things considered. For example, Fleet is along. Fleet knows nothing about maintenance. And he certainly doesn't understand this whole "whistling" business. He also doesn't understand Americon. He actually walks behind the casseticon, watching the area warily. "To what purpose?" he asks calmly. Airwolf descends from the Sky above Graveyard above. Airwolf has arrived. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot moves farther behind one of the metal 'trees', trying to keep it's bulk between itself and the approaching Decepticons. <> He radios back. <> Ventress Exo-Suit Robot heads behind a tree for cover as well. <> While the exo can't effectively 'cloak' it CAN hide if it doesn't move. Robotic Bald Eagle transforms into the correct mode, his hard hat falling onto his head, and his toolbox dropping into his outstretched hand a few seconds later. "The purpose of whistling is to keep up your spirits!" He glares at Dreadwind. "Speaking of which, YOU need to whistle more, buddy, instead of flying very very slowly! What are you, a VTOL or something!? Bah!" He turns around and starts whistling again, though rather angrily as he approaches one of the solar towers. Americon undergoes a patriotic transformation into his All-American robot mode! Jet Helicopter hovers overhead several minutes before descending towards the 'forest' and the Decepticons she expects to find here. As to whether or not she notices anyone else, it's impossible to say. A leisurely sweep over the forest reveals no surprises, at least not for her. "I believe my anti-gravs are sufficient for my spirits," Fleet answers Americon, tone actually faintly apologetic. Oh, no, it's not that he thinks that going around and /whistling/ when there could be enemies about is /stupid/ or anything. It's because his spirits are already high enough! He moves away from Americon as they approach the solar tower, still watching the area around him. He's yet to spot the actively hiding Terrans, but his wariness does reveal the approach of Airwolf, although he gives no reaction to it besides a slight pause in his work. Seeing as Americon draws to a halt Dreadwind transforms and lands heavily, he probably should have been scanning for signs of trouble whilst flying along but what would be the point? The trouble will find them all soon enough. Dreadwind turns his dull gaze on Americon, "Auditory resonance keeps your spirit up? Impossible, the crushing weight of existence cannot be so easily denied." F-16 Falcon suddenly halts it's forwards momentum and pulls up as it bends in half. The body of the jet twists and unfolds to become legs, while arms extrude themselves from the fuselage sides. From Exo-Jet Apollo Class , James Bailey bits his lower lip absently. He checks his tactical display, showing a few purple blips - and now a new one descending into the area - and just one lone green 'friendly'. He pans his Exo-suit's visual sensors around as well, especially towards the east. Finally, he shrugs at Talazia. <> With that he marches his Exo out into the open, keeping it's arms at the side. The external speakers click on, "Decepticons. Let's all keep our cool here. We're not here for a fight." Ventress Exo-Suit Robot doesn't step out from cover. She doesn't trust decepticons. Americon's whistling is cut short when he spots exo-suits. "Humans!?! Decepticons destroy them!" He drops his gear and whips out his blasters, aiming them at the EDC troops... then puts on a look of realization. "Wait, you're not here to fight? Oh. Ok. Well, we're just here to fix the towers! Don't get in the way, annoy us, or walk up behind us, or we will be very angry! Angry enough to KILL. Decepticons! Do NOT destroy them!" He looks around. "What were we doing again? Oh, right." He stoops by his toolbox, pops it open, and pulls out a crowbar. He jams into an access panel on the side of a solar tower and pops it open. "Lessee here..." Jet Helicopter finally darts towards the surface, specifically towards one of the taller solar panels. It shows evidence of already having had some cleanup work done on it. Transforming at the last moment, she lands gently beside it, a hand laid almost possessively on the structure. Halfway up, brilliant yellow "petals" are partly open on it, clashing rather badly with her purple coloration. The sound of the speakers startles her, and she turns to look in that direction, red optics narrowing as she peers towards the origin of the sound. Well, at least it's not attack on sight. Jet Helicopter transforms into her robot mode. Fleet has become quite the expert on cool of late, having spent a good deal of time on a planet half of fire, half of ice. His lips pull down into a faintly unpleasant frown, and he quirks one brow-ridge. "Oh, we're not, are we? Then why are we here?" The frown deepens at Americon's reaction, and he turns to watch Americon for a moment. "So Earth Germs are allowed to wander our world as they will these days? Things have indeed changed since I've been gone!" Ventress Exo-Suit Robot steps out from her hiding place. "Can any of you even BEGIN to work on this stuff?" Dreadwind turns his sullen stare from Americon and to the tin coated human and his shoulders slump heavily, "Typical, i just knew this was going to be awful if it wasn't feedback caused by trying to repair an ancient corroded solar array triggering a lost supply of energon tearing a huge hole in cybertron, it was going to be some foul flesh machine hybrid dripping with acidic saliva, but no it's worse than that, it's those pesky waterbags. Can we not even escape them on our homeworld?" Americon takes a pair of pliers, a roll of duct tape, and a bit of chewing gum and gets to work on the insides of the tower. "No, we are not! Our primary objective is to fix the towers!" He leans in a bit towards Fleet, muttering: "We can always kill them when we're done, too! Mwahahaha!" Shoving his head back into the access panel, Americon makes a bunch of noises that may or may not be him repairing electronics. "Oh, give me a break, Dreadwind! You ALWAYS think something bad is going to happen! It's always, 'Wah wah, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE.' Geeze! Just get to work already!" Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot takes a few steps closer, but stops well beyond what his pilot judges as arm's legth, energy-sword length, or even energy-scythe length from the Decepticons. It turns to face Fleet, then a second later Dreadwind. As a giant robotic form with a human pilot, the Exo's whole body moves, not just the head like a giant sentient robot would. Exo-pilots want to try for niceties like showing where their attention is and who they're talking to, but sometimes don't bother mimicking humanoid mannerisms completely when a rough job will do. The emitters click on again. "We didn't realize you Cybertronians were so hung up on property rights. You certainly made yourselves at home on Earth. But anyway, we're here because rumor has it there's a plan to harvest power from the nova in the Medusa Cluster. The EDC's got a lot of experience with construction and mechanical engineering." The Exo-Suit's arms go out to the side as if to demonstrate. Meanwhile, a rusted and battered droid of considerable size languishes near one of the towers, its many arms sticking out in every direction on the floor. This thing looks like it once cleaned things... *to the extreme*. Airwolf looks briefly heavenwards at the exchange of compliments and then returns her attention to the tree. Deftly using her claws, she picks at the rusted, cracked metal pieces, freeing the better steel beneath it. She pauses to stare at Americon's sterling display of technical knowhow and skill and softly mutters a prayer to Primus to preserve her from idiots. After several minutes' work on that particular section, it suddenly clicks to life just long enough to roll up the petals into its normal at-rest setting. That done, she peers towards the Terran spokesman, a brow arched at his proposed helpfulness. "Whatever source of information lead you to believe I was prone to answering questions for /flesh creatures/ was in error," Fleet replies to Talazia, tone haughty. "Though I must admit confusion... and suspicion... over any offer of aid from the likes of you," he adds to Bailey. Americon has a point about their primary objective, and while Fleet is no great shakes at repair-work, he's smart enough to figure out that fighting near the objective isn't liable to help improve its condition. He does not currently assist Americon, but stands nearby, still watching the humans as though he expects them to attack at any moment. Dreadwind's predictions go ignored; he's had his fill of doom prophesies over the last two years. Dreadwind shakes his head, "Oh we're not all going to die Americon, some of us will survive, mutilated and disfigured, in constant agonising pain enduring far longer than any medic will physically think possible." Dreadwind stares at the human vehicle for an uncomfortably long time before replying, "Yes of course a race that has existed about as long as a nasty rust rash can aid us in repairing our own technology, more likely you want to take what little we will be able to harvest when your swarm of humans ambush us, your species are as bad as the Autobots when it comes to that." Americon yells, "GEEZE stay optimistic, would you, Dreadwind!? Hey, that reminds me. Well, actually it doesn't, but, uh... any of you guys remember to bring some energon cubes? We'll need 'em to jumpstart these towers and perform testing!" He pokes his head out of the tower, and rummages around in his toolbox. He frowns as he pulls out a little teeny cube. "Hmmm." The yellow and blue Seeker removes a small tube from his cockpit and hands it to Americon. "Energon goodies," he explains. "They may be enough." Ventress Exo-Suit Robot chuckles as Dreadwind prophesizes doom. "oh no, please continue. I haven't heard a conspiracy theory all week!" The mech then turns towards Fleet. "Weren't you the Sweep that got lost on that volcano planet?" That's FLEET, the yellow and blue Seeker. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot walks over to another tower and inspects it carefully. Panels on the Exo-suit's arm slide open and a few large tool-like appendages poke out, but it seems to have difficulty lining up the instruments with the proper places on the tower. It stands motionless for a few moments, then finally the pilot's compartment unseals and a human in an environmental suit scrambles out. James Bailey leaves the Exo-Jet Apollo Class . James Bailey has arrived. "Considering I have never been a Sweep," Fleet answers Talazia, "that would be a 'no.'" He's being evasive. He's talking with an enemy. These things are connected. Dreadwind noticably hasn't shifted to either help with repairs or attack/drive off the humans, he is smart enough to know the theory behind how the towers should work but he's not all that good at the actual fixing side, it's way too much effort. "Optimism is only for those that fail to compute the enormity of what existence truely is." Dreadwind turns his dead stare on Talazia, "Oh it is no conspiracy, it is a universal truth, life is suffering and pain, most choose to delude themselves from the facts at least amongst those that can compute the enormity of it all." "Americon your repairs will be deficient, activation of the tower will just add to our suffering and most likely trigger an explosion." Airwolf has her suspicions as to the odd helpfulness of the Terrans, but she says nothing for now, returning her attention to the tree. Dreadwind's oracular abilities being what they are, she doesn't pay too much attention to him, either. Maybe one of these days, he'll actually be right, and won't that be a surprise? A final examination leaves her satisfied and the tree looking much better. Moving on to another, she lightly traces a badly damaged mast. No help for it; it has to go. She clips it off and resumes breaking off the defective metal. Once in a while, she pulls a small tool out of a side compartment and performs minor repairs. This isn't *difficult*, but there are so damned many trees... Oops, she almost misses Bailey's attempts at helping. Only Fleet's stand-out paintjob reminds her that he's there, let alone messing with the trees. She pauses and frowns. Americon peers around the side of his tower at James Bailey. "Oh, so you are helping us! That is very nice of you!" He grabs the tube from Fleet, and pops open the top. "Hm! Yes, this might do!" Americon then dumps the contents of the tube into something somewhere in the tower's innards, and then immediately shoves his energon cube in there, too. "There!" Americon cries, and slams the panel shut... only to have it slowly open again. "Fixed! Now with that boost of energy, we should see some activity of some kind!" He floats up into the air, in front of another panel that is labeled, "Control Terminal," and presses a button next to it labeled, "Open." "Ha!" Americon says, pointing at Dreadwind. "See! The repairs did NOT work, we are not doomed, and your prophecy is a lie! I will never let you live it down!" Just then, two lights on the deactivated maintenance droid flicker on, and its battery-powered engine comes to life with a dull growl. Oh, right, and nothing happened when Americon pressed the "open" button. Fleet is still faintly confused as to why humans would be helping them to gain energon, since usually they're out to help the Autobots /prevent/ Decepticons from gaining energon. When he sees *how* Americon is just haphazardly dumping the chips and cube into the panel, Fleet takes a few steps back. Long, anti-grav assisted steps. From his new, further vantage point, he tilts his head back to watch Americon continue to "work." The humans are not forgotten, and the occasional turn shift of his head shows that both they and Airwolf are still getting watched. James Bailey shoulders an oversized duffel-bag and a smaller satchel and then walks along his Exo-suit's arm as if it was a tree branch towards the tower he was trying to work on. Balancing on the Exo's opened palm - to a human it's the size of a small chair - he takes a crowbar out of the satchel to pry the stubborn panel open, and then his entire upper torso disappears inside as he leans inside. The first 'panel' takes him a while as he tries to understand what he's looking at, and occasionally he calls out a question on something he's not sure about. BUKKET HELLO THIS IS BUKKET HE IS A CLEANING ROBOT ON FOUR WHEELS WITH NUMEROUS ARMS WITH CLEANING INSTRUMENTS ATTACHED TO THEM. BUKKET LOOKS KIND OF LIKE A VERY LARGE VERSION OF A ROBOT WARS ROBOT EXCEPT WITH CLEANING ARMS AND BUCKETS. Dreadwind didn't bother to step back as the tower is attempted to be activated he knows he can't escape his suffering. He notes that the 'repairs' fail to do anything either bad or good, all that means that is when something does go wrong it'll be even more catastrophic than he first thought. "The universe does not easily give up on it's enjoyment, it is merely biding its time for something far far worse." "Hang around with Dead End much, do you?" Fleet asks Dreadwind by way of making conversation. Airwolf is unsure whether Americon or the Terrans are the greater risk to this project. She hesitates, then steps briskly towards the Terran. Whichever the case, she'll have to check their work. At the sound of the drone's engine, she comes to a halt just before getting to Bailey, her crimson gaze sweeping towards the battered drone. Stay. Good Drone. Another troubled glance in Dreadwind's direction. The poster child for post traumatic stress syndrome can possibly be right once in a while. A long while. No, not about the drone. Her attention returns to the Terrans, who she regards more and more suspiciously. Them. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot peers over towards Airwolf as s/he (yes...correct me) checks on Bailey's work. Her mech stands back a bit as Airwolf checks the terrans work but once s/he's done....a shortwave message is sent to Airwolf. <> Americon glares at Fleet, then Dreadwind. "You people are bringing me down, man! You're bringing me down! I was whistling the whole way over here, for like HOURS, and not a single one of you guys joined in! And now you're just being a bunch of Glum Guses! I *hate* you." He sneers. "And as for YOU, Dreadwind, I don't want to hear anymore doomsaying out of you!" The cleaning droid comes to life, and its headlights switch to a crimson color. It slowly rolls towards Americon. "We aren't going to explode, get electrocuted, or get sucked into a parallel universe where humans rule Cybertron and we're all dead! Everything is going to be..." Americon is cut off by a shrill cry of, "SABOTAGE! SABOTAGE!" before a giant bucket slams down onto the little tape's head, forcing it to pop back into his torso. Americon wanders around headless for a moment, and then he is smashed by a broom handle so hard that he flies two hundred yards away, and yet his trajectory avoids all of the solar towers. "SAAABOOOOTAAAAGE!" the cleaning droid yells, flailing its massive implements of maintenance in the air! BUKKET LIVES. Fleet STARES after the bashed away cassetticon, then turns to STARE at BUKKET. "You have *got* to be kidding me," he murmurs softly. Then he frowns, straightens, and points one arm toward the thing, aiming his shoulder-mounted weapon. "Cease your shouting and identify yourself," he orders of the droid. James Bailey emerges from the panel, closes it, walks carefully back up the arm of his Exo-Suit to climb in, and then pilots it over to the next tower, where he climbs out again to repair this one. The whole operation goes much more quickly and smoothly this time since he's more familiar with the process, and he has this one finished in no time. Soon he's already moved his Exo over to a 3rd tower. Maybe not as fast as Airwolf or other Cybertronians, but he's making good progress and asking less questions as he goes...all this of course comes to an aned as the cleaning droid starts shouting and flailing it's cleaning tools and clobbering Americon (okay, so that last one was less 'disturbing' to the EDC pilot and more 'amusing'). James ventures, "Uh...please tell me that thing's one of you? Some twisted variation like those Junkions?" Americon says, "I can't see! It's... so... dark..." Dreadwind has been right on many occasions, not that anyone actually paid any attention to his well calculated predictions and thus has never been given any credit for forewarning of any event. Dreadwind should be surprised by the sudden attack of the cleaning droid, it was probably booby trapped by the Autobots vorns ago and oddly enough it started out by clobbering the biggest booby in the area. "Great now we have to try and subdue a crazed cleaner, when the chemicals get into our systems we will be parlysed and much much worse." Ventress Exo-Suit Robot just.....chuckles loudly. <> She says as the mech crosses it's arms. It's obvious this Exo has had a LOT of care given to it over the time the pilot has gotten it. BUKKET shrieks, flailing its arms about, "I AM CALLED BUKKET AND YOU ARE A SABOTEUR. YOU HAVE DAMAGED THE SOLAR TOWERS, I MUST NOW CLEAN YOU. *BEEEEP*" One of the arms brings a bucket near a nozzle on its side, and the nozzle dispenses a liquid filled with some sort of waxy substance. Then, it swings the bucket overhead, and tosses it at Fleet. "YOU HAVE NOT BEEN WAXED PROPERLY. *BWOOOT* RECTIFYING." Wow. Dreadwind's jinx hits with a vengeance. Airwolf also stares as Americon is knocked into next week, more impressed by the accuracy of the hit than anything else. Talazia's question is forgotten in the commotion, but she reacts quickly enough: moving smoothly back out of the crazed drone's reach. This is not a good thing. "I suggest that those capable of flight do so. I didn't think that any of these old drones were still operational... and it looks like some energy was mistakenly rerouted through the old equipment." You don't have that weapon armed. Available weapons: Slap Smash Energy_sword Compressed_air Rocket Special Repeating Plasma Drain Area_Melee Area_Ranged Crush Missile Cannon. You successfully strike Fleet, who is now temporarily incapacitated. James Bailey curses flavorfully and scrambles for the pilot's compartment on his Exo-suit. He drops the duffel bag and satchel as he goes, which both thud heavily to the ground and also emit a few metallic clinks and clanks. James Bailey has left. James Bailey enters the Exo-Jet Apollo Class . Dreadwind hasn't moved even after the droids attacks on the other Decepticons, maybe he's still enough that it mistakes him for one of the towers, "We could just eliminate the droid, though of course the cleaning fluids it contains would have a horrible reaction, probably forming some sort of acidic soup or vapours that will corrode our systems." Ventress Exo-Suit Robot does take flight. The Talon's verniers kick in and lift it a couple of feet off the ground. <> The pilot says as the Exo flies a bit higher....one of it's gun pods aimed at Bukket....but not firing yet. Fleet is hit by a bucket of wax. It stickies him. He's incapacitated for a round. Airwolf follows her own advice and takes to the air. From there, she visually examines the malfunctioning bukket of bolts. "I rather doubt that trying to reason with it will work. Saboteurs? Must clean? About the best alternative is to wait it out. All it has is that one jolt of energy." BUKKET shrieks, "ORGANIC INFESTATION DETECTED. LEVEL 4 EXTERMINATION PROCEDURES ACTIVATED." The droid rolls towards Bailey, and one of its arms points at him, revealing itself to be... a flamethrower! "BURN. PURGE. ERADICATE!" It unleashes a gout of flames at him, then sweeps it up towards Talazia. "BURRRRNNNN." Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot fires thrusters on it's back and feet, lifting off the ground in a wash of super-heated air. It radios back to Talazia, <> The Exo's external speakers click on, close to maximum output to be heard over the roar of it's own jet engines. "Wait it out? How long do you think that's going to take? If it's not sentient, can't you guys just shut it down somehow?" BUKKET unleashes its Gooo Awaaaaay! attack on Exo-Jet Apollo Class and Ventress Exo-Suit , striking Ventress Exo-Suit . Dreadwind continues to stand and watch, some Decepticons would probably take some glee in the fact that the humans are considered for eradiction, but not Dreadwind he knows that sooner or later the eradication will be pointed back towards the decepticons and he'll be forced to do something. "There are many ways to shut it down but why bother, it's hardly a serious threat currently at least until it activates an auto destruct eithr in itself or the towers, niot that it really matters." It's not really clear who Dreadwind is talking to he may just be talking to himself at this point, he usually is. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot blasts into the air and out of the reach of the cleaning droid. it hovers there for a second before the mech seems to snap it fingers. <> Fleet rips the bucket off of his head with a faint growl. He does *not* take comfort or joy in the fact that the thing is currently going after organics, nor does he intend to 'wait it out.' The thing attacked once, it may do so again, and he doesn't know what the ancient drone's capabilities are. The bucket is flung hard into the nearest tower, the same motion leaving his right arm outstretched. He continues with the natural swing of movement until that arm is pointed at Bukket, and when they line up, he fires, not a normal energy beam, but a ray that, if it hits, will coat Bukket with a thing layer of ice that will melt quickly, but should hold him fast for at least a moment. You are temporarily incapacitated by Fleet's Freeze Ray attack. "Best to depart now," Airwolf politely advises the Terrans, still somewhat bemused by the sudden attack. "It's not one of ours," she continues. "Primus himself was probably the last person to give it orders. And I don't want to fire on it for fear of destroying any of the solar panels..." Whatever else she meant to say is dropped. Boom goes the bucket hitting a tower. She winces. BUKKET happily sprays fire in every direction, yelling, "MUST ERADICATE HUMANS, PREVENT SABOTAGE. PREVENT SABOTAGE!" Then Fleet's freeze ray strikes it and coats the machine in a layer of frost. "MUST.... PREVENT... SHHHHHABOOOOOOOTAAAAASHHHHHHHHH......" With a sad groan, it comes to a halt... for now. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot raises it's legs, which directs the still-active thrusters in it's feet forward and causes the Exo itself to zoom out back out of range of the droid's flames. It swings the legs back to stops itself, then points them straight down again to hover in place. The Exo reaches down and unclips a hand-held gunpod in one hand, but doesn't open fire yet, the pilot not wanting to risk destroying the towers they just put so much effort into repairing. "Can you -Decepticons- tow it out of here? Get it clear of the towers?" Ventress Exo-Suit Robot flies there and looks at Airwolf. <> and the pilot stops as Fleet freezes it. <> Then the head of the Mech turns towards Fleet. <> It says starting to fly back towards it. Dreadwind listens to the sad groan of Bukket as it grinds to a halt and finds himself hearing an ever so slight echo of his own deep depression. "Tow it away and then what? Send it to Earth perhaps or just leave us to deal with it while you get on with your sabotage of our efforts here. Either way we can't win, so it's best to sit here and do nothing let things run their course." "No, I can *not* tow it," Fleet snaps, irritated. "That'll just break the layer of ice off. Then Talazia /orders/ him to keep the creature frozen. "Very well," he says, tone annoyed but surprisingly defferrent. The truth of the matter is, of course, that he CAN'T keep it frozen - it takes too much energon to keep a freeze ray going continiously. However, he's all for encouraging the humans to let their guard down so that /they/ can get hurt. Truth be told, if he had actually watched to /see/ what Bukket had been attacking when he'd been able to move again, he wouldn't have stopped the thing. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Robot lowers to the ground and carefully scoops up the duffel bag and satchel - it takes two tries for James to snag the smaller satchel in the Exo's giant, unfeeling fingers. Then it lifts into the air, shifting into it's fighter configuration. "Fine. We'll just light it up right here and hope it doesn't take too much of your solar farm with it! Pour it on Siryn!" Twisting and shifting, the Apollo transforms into an exo-jet. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot throws it's feet out to stop WAY short of the mech called bukket. <> Kinda hard to miss but, in true seeker fashion, cuz that's how the Exo looks, it points it's left arm and fires at the droid before flying out of beetle's line of fire. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot strikes you with ballistic for 8 points of damage. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet pops open a set of small armored doors on it's engine nacelles, revealing rows of small cylindrical warheads. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet strikes you with Micro-Missile Swarm for 11 points of damage. Airwolf transforms and darts back down to the forest, positioning herself in between the attackers and the solar panels. She can't cover all that much, just a tiny portion of the forest, but she does her best. "Too damned trusting," she mutters to herself. "I should have known better." Airwolf transforms into her jet helicopter mode. BUKKET is hit pretty good by the weapons fire, but naturally this has the side effect of helping the ice melt. And so BUKKET roars to life once again, and charges towards Dreadwind, wailing, "UNAUTHORIZED EDIFICE DETECTED. COMMENCING SMASH PROCEDURES." With several grabby arms, it grabs at the gloomy Decepticon and tries to smash his head against *itself*. "SMASH. SMASH. SMASH." You have set the custom name for attack energy_sword in mode 1 to "SMASH." You strike Dreadwind with SMASH. From Exo-Jet Apollo Class , James Bailey is going to have to go pretty soon. :( Dreadwind considers the situation analysing all the details in short order and coming to a reasoned conclusion, he's not being attacked because he's being ignored as usual. So promptly the universe realises that he has figured it out and sends the droid after him, "Typical it was just a matter of time." Is all Dreadwind manages to moan about his luck before the head to head meeting, his head plating buckles and distorts considerably from the impact, "Great so now i'm going to have to risk more serious injury." With that he points one of his arms at the droid and his blasts at close range. Dreadwind strikes you with Single wrist blaster for 4 points of damage. Dreadwind says, "It sucks to be near me." Damnation! That thing was supposed to go after the germs! Ah, well, can't be helped; it's not like Fleet could have held the thing frozen, anyway. The Seeker leaps towards the cleaning drone, and as he does, the inside portions of his forearm "gauntlets" fold out and activate, forming two glowing energon daggers, one red, one green. He darts in and attempts a single strike against Bukket with one dagger before darting back out again. Fleet strikes you with Swift, Shallow Dagger Strike for 3 points of damage. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet fires it's main engines, going in an instant from 'hovering steadily' to 'streaking through the air.' Even at it's relatively small size, darting between and through the towers at high speeds is a little tricky, but it manages to reach the edge of the forest area...then it banks around and streaks into the metal forest again. Inside, James makes sure Talazia's Exo is clear, but doesn't seem to concern himself much with the Decepticons (who also happen to be clear). He flies directly at BUKKET, skimming the ground dangerously close to try and drop underneath the droid's center of gravity. Exo-Jet Apollo Class Jet strikes you with ram for 14 points of damage. From Exo-Jet Apollo Class , James Bailey curses again as sparks erupt inside of his pilot's compartment. His computer system's pleasant female voice warns of a few systems failing. He triggers his radio. "Damn! Siryn, I'm pulling out. I'm not sure how much longer propulsion's going to last, and I don't want to bail out in the middle of hostile territory. Good luck, and don't do anything too reckless!" From Exo-Jet Apollo Class , James Bailey says, "I've got to run guys, but thanks for the fun scene!" Exo-Jet Apollo Class rises upward to the Sky above Graveyard. Exo-Jet Apollo Class has left. Dreadwind says, "Later Jimmy." BUKKET emits, as Dreadwind returns fire, "ERROR: TARGET IS NOT EDIFICE. DISCARD AND RE-EVALUATE." It flings the gloomy one to the side, and after being slashed by Fleet, it turns and rolls towards him, brandishing a giant mop menacingly. "WHY DO YOU RESIST? YOU MUST BE CLEANED TO ENSURE MAXIMUM FUNCTIONALITY." Then Bailey swoops by in his exo, and slams into Bukket's underside. This heroic yet possibly foolish act actually succeeds in flipping the cleaning menace onto its back, like a turtle. Its arms squirm underneath and it tries to fire a salvo of rivets at its assailants from a pneumatic gun on one of its arms. "CRITICAL ERROR! GYROSCOPE FAILURE!" BUKKET unleashes its Gooo Awaaaaay! attack on Dreadwind and Fleet, striking Dreadwind. Jet Helicopter gets the occasional shower of metal fragments or rusty rivets, shrapnel from either successful strikes or Bukket's shedding components from extreme age. Fortunately not much more than that. She shifts her position constantly, maintaining the barrier between the warriors and this small corner of the forest. Bukket is the least of her worries right now. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot flies back up out of the area and lets Bukket attack the pair of cons. <> The pilot says as her exo flies above the battle scene....and she doesn't fire. Dreadwind is affected by the latest ragdoll physics engine as he is uncerimoniously tossed aside in favour of someone else, some things never change no matter what the situation. Finally coming to a stop as he impacts with the base of one of the trees he back arching painfully. He doesn't move and then to top it off gets peppered with rivets, eventually his dull voice can be heard again, "See i was right, pain and suffering, the universe feeds on it thrives on it, we would have been better off sitting still and doing nothing." As Fleet darts back, he activates his antigravs and vaults skyward as well, bringing him above the line of fire. In fact, he leaps directly above the droid - if it's upside-down, turtle-like, this is one spot it'll have difficulty aiming for. Once up there he cuts antigravs for a moment as he attempts to land, full force, on Bukket. "You don't *know* pain and suffering!" Fleet cries out, angered at his 'teammate,' and adds, apparently directing this last phrase to Bukket, "But you will!" With that, he leaps back into the air, activating his boot-jets at full-force, intent on roasting the ancient drone in the heated backwash from his thrusters. Fleet strikes you with Boot-jet Backwash for 16 points of damage. BUKKET yells, "SQQUUUUEEEEEEEEEE!!!" as the boot thrusters roast its relatively un-armored underside. The metal turns white-hot, then melts away into the thing's guts. Its arms thrash like crazy, but it's no use, and soon its systems are fried by its own molten skin. "I... ONLY... WANTED... TO... CLEAN... YOU..." BUKKET emits sadly, before its lights switch off, and its arms all flop to the ground. BUKKET is dead. Dreadwind appears, for all intents and purposes to be dead also, if only he would quit his complaining about how life is continually trying to make his terrible lot even more worse than it already is. Fleet touches down with a quiet, metal-on-metal "clack" next to the spot where Bukket's body rests. He flips his daggers back into place, then peels off some of the extra wax from when the droid had tagged him with a bucket of the stuff. Then he lifts his head, checks his surroundings, and sighs. "I suppose we ought to go find that blasted tape," he mutters. Jet Helicopter agrees with Fleet concerning Dreadwind's whining about pain and suffering. "Doesn't know the meaning of the word," she mutters, but there's no passion in her sentiment; it's very matter-of-fact. Alas, poor Bukket. It was only doing its job. Things seem to be winding down finally, but she's still concerned about the possible Terran attack. And whatever happened to Americon? Dreadwind's babbling voice indicates his position, Fleet's overhead, but poor little Americon hasn't been seen since. You leave the BUKKET. Americon, sans head, can perhaps be seen wandering around, feeling about clumsily. "Mff! Mff mff mff!" Ventress Exo-Suit Robot flies back down and lands near the droid and seems to scan it. <> The mech says as it puts it's hands on it's hips. <> Jet Helicopter sighs and transforms, using her newly reformed claws to pick the occasional rivet out of her armor. Now where was that Terran? The exo in question lands in plain sight, so that question is answered. Stepping towards her original destination, the trees that Bailey worked on, she begins to examine them very closely. Yes, that's a strong hint that they aren't trusted. Jet Helicopter transforms into her robot mode. Dreadwind eventually drags himself achingly to his feet, once again one of the more damaged combatants to walk away from the field. "Great now i'll be at the tender mercies of the medics, this cycle just gets better and better." By the frozen lake! First this germ wants him to hold it frozen so she can destroy it, then she complains when he destroys it instead! "No, germ, we do not want you here. We do not trust you. And had I been any one of many of my fellows, you'd have gotten far worse than that statement." He leaves the tape to wander for now - if he can't figure out how to pull his own head out, that's his problem - and walks, feet clinking lightly on the planet's metal surface, to where Airwolf works. "I'm no technician, but I can work under direction, Airwolf." Americon fumbles around some more, eventually bumping into Dreadwind's leg and falling over. "BWWWMMMMFFFF!" Ventress Exo-Suit Robot shakes it's head. <> *points to Airwolf* <<...is checking out his work now. If he finds it satisfactory.....I can do the same kind of work! and I AM a technician!>> of course, the pilot kind of expects this to be ignored. Fleet ignores the pilot and her ranty human-talk. He's a Decepticon! If he's paying attention to humans, it's usually because he's shooting at them! Dreadwind looks down at Americon and wonders just what exactly atracts the little tape to his leg, though the horrifying truth will likely be sprung on him by the universe at a later date. When it can have even greater impact than the revelation would now, "I suppose i should return for repairs, not that anyone would care if i was nonfunctional." With that he turns and starts trudging for home. Airwolf looks up from her very careful work and holds up a hand to halt Fleet. "Give me a few minutes to see if this has been sabotaged; you don't want to be at ground zero with me if it is." She freezes in that position as the Ventress's operator speaks. "My apologies, sir or ma'am, but you have absolutely no reason whatsoever to help and a lot of reasons to hinder. I don't fault you for this; you *are* at war with the Decepticons." What was that funny noise? Oh, *there's* Americon. He seems to have confused Dreadwind with Soundwave. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot grumbles at that. <> "Let me know your flight path, Dreadwind," Fleet sighs after the doomsayer. "That way if you drop dead on your way back, I can recover your body." Not that he expects Dreadwind to drop dead, but waste not, want not! Americon isn't going to pee on or hump Dreadwind's leg (probably) but he is nevertheless drawn to Dreadwind for some reason, and tries to wrap his arms around the guy's leg. "MMMMMGGGHHHFFFF!" Dreadwind continues to trudge away, on foot, "Yeah right i can expect huge search parties looking everywhere for me, should only be about a millenia or two before anyone notices that i'm missing." Dreadwind also does his best to ignore the extra weight he's having to drag along with him, knowing his luck Americon will get seen by the medics before he does. "Yeah, well at least it'd be on Cybertron," mutters Fleet, the Seeker who had been left to fend for himself for two years. And was only rescued when a group just happened to land on the planet he was on for entirely different reasons. No pity here! Airwolf pays more attention to her work than the Terran. After all, her life may depend on it. Every single bit of machinery is examined, every alignment, every circuit. "Everything matches the master designs," she murmurs, half to herself. "Though there's some jury-rigging..." Reaching inside, she skillfully removes the part in question and replaces it with the correct piece. "Nice work otherwise." Finally finished with this one example, she takes the time to inspect the rest as well. Assuming they all turn out, she nods in satisfaction and turns to face the others. There's Dreadwind wandering off, Americon attached. Er... She shrugs. Beckoning Fleet forward, she gives him a quick explanation of the designs and specifications of the solar panels. "Both intricate and gloriously classic, these are. At least for an engineer." If Talazia is close enough, she can also listen in. Once done with Fleet's lecture, she finally recalls the Terran. "Er, yes, I am the Governor of Crystal City," she answers belatedly. From Ventress Exo-Suit , Talazia Keldahoff nods to Airwolf. "I have something you might wish to consider....IF these panels are for Crystal City's use....." Dreadwind would retort about how he and others were locked away and completely forgotten about for many more than two years, but what would be the point, nobody ever listens anyway. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot nods to Airwolf. "I have something you might wish to consider....IF these panels are for Crystal City's use..... Americon is eventually knocked off by some debris on the floor as he is dragged along it, and lies down, face first for a moment, before he finally transforms into tape mode. Americon collapses and shrinks down into a very tiny cassette labeled, "America's Most Patriotic Hits!" Patriotic Cassette suddenly pops and converts to eagle mode. "CAWWWW! Wow, I forgot that I have a backup head!" He flies over to Airwolf, and lands on her shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?" He glances at Talazia. "Whatcha doin'?" Americon's robot legs pop out metallic feather-like objects as they and his lower torso split apart, also revealing an eagle head. The arms and robot head join the main body, and his guns convert into tail feathers and rocket launchers. Americon is now a bald eagle! Ventress Exo-Suit Robot chuckles at Americon. <> Robotic Bald Eagle scowls suspiciously at Talazia. "You want our technology!? I am not sure if we want you to do that, young lady! And besides, we Decepticons are total jerks! We would prefer that you fix the panels, and learn nothing!" He pauses. "If you don't mind." Airwolf looks around, noticing that most of her help has vanished. Damned lazy Decepticons. Show them anything that looks like work, and they melt into the shadows. Which is why they raid other species for energy and supplies: sheer laziness. Accepting Terran help, though... "I may have to consult with Rodimus and Galvatron about that," she tells Talazia, looking a bit troubled. "I answer to them as well." Ventress Exo-Suit 's arms cross over the cockpit as the pilot seems to ponder. <, still perched on Airwolf, leans forward and sneers, "They are NOT YOURS! Therefore! *We* will use them in whatever way we wish!" He lets loose with a horrendously loud, "CAWWWW!" as he flaps his wings. Robotic Bald Eagle was saying that to Talazia, of course. Ventress Exo-Suit Robot turns it's head to Americon. <> The mech then looks back to Airwolf. <> "Cybertron's," she answers softly. "Designed by Primus himself, I suspect. There are old records of other solar fields, but they have been destroyed." Airwolf glances to the northwest, towards Istoral. "Technically, they belong to both Autobots and Decepticons. In the interests of repairing the infrastructure of Cybertron's 'ecosystem', I've been trying to get these operational for almost a year, and only now has the lot of you descended upon this last resource. Forgive me if I'm rather cynical about motives." Robotic Bald Eagle folds his wings to his chest, and puts on a haughty look. "*My* motives are pure and All-American. And besides, Cyclonus will *freaking kill me* if I don't fix these things. So, you know." Ventress Exo-Suit Robot shrugs at that. <> the Pilot then peers to Americon. <> Robotic Bald Eagle 's optics dart around. "Uhhhhh. Well, I should still have plenty of duct tape and chewing gum. Yeah, I think we can." Airwolf stares at Americon, crimson optics narrowed. "You will not use such slipshod, unprofessional methods for something like this." Besides, Transformers don't chew gum. And it's a poor adhesive, too. Robotic Bald Eagle shrinks away from Airwolf, putting on sad little puppy eagle optics. "But it was so hard finding humans to hold hostage and chew the gum for me!" Ventress Exo-Suit Robot shrugs lightly. <> Airwolf is unmoved by the pathetic Turkey's attempt at looking, well, pathetic. "Maybe *you* should try chewing gum." Yes, she knows what gum is after her tour of duty as a prisoner of the Terrans. Returning her attention to the Terran in question, she sighs and responds, "I have nothing against it myself, but once again, I would have to consult with both my lords." Robotic Bald Eagle holds up a wing to the side of his beak facing Airwolf and tells Talazia in harsh whisper, "Galvatron says no!" Ventress Exo-Suit Robot nods quietly. <> The mech then points towards the tree Bailey worked on. <> Of course....the pilot ignores Americon. Talazia Keldahoff has left.